Skip navigation
Music (Composition) at University of Oxford - UCAS

Course options

2024 - 20252025 - 2026
Apply

There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2023). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. MSt The Master of Studies in Music (Composition) introduces a broad range of current methodologies and approaches in music scholarship. The main MSt teaching and coursework is completed in the first two terms; the third is reserved for completion of assessed work. Core seminars In the Michaelmas term there are typically six topics:

  • historical musicology
  • current trends in music theory
  • aesthetics
  • the social and cultural study of music
  • performance
  • composition.
You may participate in as many of these seminars as you wish. Your first summative assessment will be a compositional exercise written in response to the composition core seminar. Elective seminars Each year a number of faculty members convene a series of ‘elective’ seminars based on their research interests, to help you prepare for your assessment essays. You are invited to attend as many of these seminars as you wish. Reading lists are sent out before the start of the courses and you are asked to prepare fully and contribute to the seminars. Most of the electives take place in Hilary term. Recent seminar series included the following titles:
  • Pitch, Amplitude, Timbre
  • Brazilian Music
  • Distributed Creativity in Composition and Performance
  • Thirteenth-Century Motets
  • Music and (Non) Religion
  • Music and Race
  • Gender and Sexuality in Popular Music Studies
  • Music and Islamic Culture
  • Beethoven between History and Myth.
  • Presentation seminars
Presentation seminars are held in Trinity term. Musicologists, performers and composers each prepare a presentation on their own research and are asked to respond to another student’s presentation in another; further feedback on presentation skills is received from the seminar convenor. MPhil The MPhil is designed for students wishing to attain a thorough grounding in composition at an advanced level, either as a preparation for doctoral research or an autonomous qualification. In the first year you will follow the MSt in Music (Composition), proceeding in the second year to individual supervision leading to the completion of a portfolio of compositions and written work. The Master of Philosophy in Music (Composition) introduces a broad range of current methodologies and approaches in music scholarship. First year The first year of the course is identical to that of the MSt in Music (Composition). The main teaching and coursework is completed in the first two terms; the third is reserved for completion of assessed work. Core seminars In the Michaelmas term there are typically six topics:
  • historical musicology
  • current trends in music theory
  • aesthetics
  • the social and cultural study of music
  • performance
  • composition.
Elective seminars Each year a number of faculty members convene a series of ‘elective’ seminars based on their research interests, to help you prepare for your assessment essays. You are invited to attend as many of these seminars as you wish. Reading lists are sent out before the start of the courses and you are asked to prepare fully and contribute to the seminars. Most of the electives take place in Hilary term. Recent seminar series included the following titles:
  • Pitch, Amplitude, Timbre
  • Brazilian Music
  • Distributed Creativity in Composition and Performance
  • Thirteenth-Century Motets
  • Music and (Non) Religion
  • Music and Race
  • Gender and Sexuality in Popular Music Studies
  • Music and Islamic Culture
  • Beethoven between History and Myth.
  • Presentation seminars

Entry requirements

For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

No fee information has been provided for this course

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

For complete and up-to-date information about fees and funding for this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.
Music (Composition) at University of Oxford - UCAS